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\chapter{Introduction}
\section{Preface}
The theme of the semester is \textit{Audio-Visual Experiments --- Interactive Experiences} and the goal is to develop technical and methodological skills by creating an interactive experience as well as an audio-visual experiment. 

For this project, two AV productions were created. One is a video showing test participants playing the game, the other is a more traditional movie-like trailer. It is recommended that the reader watches both productions before reading this report.

Both videos can be found on the DVD. Also, the trailer can be found on YouTube via the following link:
\\\href{http://youtu.be/09mqJMEFSlc}{$www.youtu.be/09mqJMEFSlc$}.

If interested, the game that was developed during the project can be downloaded via the following link (Windows only):
\\\href{http://gustavdahl.net/games/Unity_games/SeeYouOnTheOtherSide.rar}{$www.gustavdahl.net/games/Unity\_games/SeeYouOnTheOtherSide.rar$}

Note: in this report, we will use the terms \textit{videogame} and \textit{game} interchangeably. Both refer to digital games that can be played on all kinds of devices: computers, consoles, mobile devices, etc.

\section{Motivation for the Project}
Learning the rules of a videogame is frequently done through tutorials in the beginning of the game, meaning that they have a great influence on how the game retains new players. Although tutorials are designed to aid players' understanding, research has indicated that they can also have a negative impact on their experience. According to \cite{pedagogic}, tutorials can even restrict learning and experimentation in games. Especially in modern games, a wide variety of helping methods are used to help players, such as hints, help buttons, manuals and training challenges, which potentially can have a negative impact on the overall experience \citep{impactTutorials}. For instance, the game \textit{The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword} (Nintendo) includes videos that show the player how to solve its puzzles and an in-game mentor that constantly tells the player what to do. The game received a lot of critique because of these features \citep{Zelda1} \citep{Zelda2} \citep{Zelda3}. An extreme example of a game that does the complete opposite is \textit{Demon's Souls} (FromSoftware), which has entire mechanics that the players are never directly exposed to. Instead, it is required of the players to find explanations through online wikis to understand them \citep{DemonsSoulsWiki}. The game has earned a reputation for being extremely hard. This speaks to a certain type of gamers \citep{IGNDemon}.

The vision of this project is to create a game universe with the aim of investigating how explaining the rules to the player impacts that player's experience, both regarding his understanding and enjoyment of the game. In order to test this, we developed a 3D puzzle game in two different versions: one where a written explanation is shown in the beginning (describing the core rules of the game), and one where this explanation is not shown at all. The game was named \textit{See You On The Other Side}.

The topic is interesting to explore, since the current trend in the videogame industry is that games provide more and more \textit{hand-holding} \citep{handHoldCrave} and a gentle learning curve. This trend has helped spread games to a broader audience, especially thanks to easy-to-access game devices, as well as a big focus on helping and rewarding players. That being said, the \textit{zeitgeist} among experienced gamers is that games are becoming too simple and too easy due to this extensive hand-holding, thereby ruining the enjoyment \citep{handHoldingNeoGAF} \citep{handHoldCAG}. It could be argued that games in general suffer from trying to please the lowest common denominator, i.e.\ less experienced gamers. Therefore, it is worth looking into how much of an impact these elements, namely tutorials and hints, have on games. However, the purpose of this project is not to make a generalization for all genres of games. The scope of this project is solely concerned with the 3D puzzle game created during the project period. That being said, it is possible that the findings presented in this report can be applied to other games as well.

It seems apparent that players would like to solve puzzles by themselves, feeling a greater sense of accomplishment, as opposed to getting the answers served to them via tutorials and hints. However, there is a trade-off which game designers should have in mind, namely the risk of the player getting stuck, being unable to proceed, or quitting the game due to frustration. So, it's an act of balancing how much help we want to give to the players.